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Help me with my hydroponics problem. Please! Answered

The directions were great. Except, now that I got my air pump going and everything else, there is a smell coming from it. It smells like garbage. Also, when the bubbles come up to the surface there's a bunch of bubbles left at the surface...it looks like a bubble bath. The first time this happen with the smell I just got another air stone. So, now I have two in the container. I emptied the old water and solution, cleaned the container and add more water with fertilizer. This worked great, but then two weeks later it was time for me to put fresh water again and now it's doing the same thing with the garbage smell. Please give me some ideas on how to get rid of this.

6 Replies

. The smell and the bubbles not popping sounds like too much organic material to me.. Sounds like you have enough aeration.. Are you using too much fertilizer?. Try adding some nitrobacter to your solution. Add a small scoop of gravel from a fish tank or I think you get it at most pet stores.

I think you're right about the fertilizer. I will try putting gravel in there too. I will use less liquid fertilizer in my next batch. I use two different types. Both of them are organic. One is mostly nitrogen and the other is phosphorus. Thank you very much for your response!

. Gravel from an established fish tank (one that's been operating, with fish, for several weeks or more) should have plenty of nitrobacter. The bacteria seem to do best in gravel (or similar media) and with plenty of water flow, but once they get started, they will flourish without attention.